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Regan Smith will be back in the saddle this weekend in Martinsville for James Finch. Photo by LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC

Regan Smith back behind the wheel for Martinsville

April 2, 2013

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With A.J. Allmendinger making his IndyCar debut for Penske Racing this weekend, Regan Smith returns to the No. 51 Phoenix Racing Chevrolet for the STP Gas Booster 500 at Martinsville Speedway. It’ll be Smith’s second Sprint Cup start this year for owner James Finch, whose team got a seventh-place finish from Smith in the season-opening Daytona 500.

After the Daytona 500, Finch used Allmendinger at Phoenix and Austin Dillon at Las Vegas before returning to Allmendinger for the Bristol and Fontana races. But Allmendinger is driving for Roger Penske in Sunday afternoon’s IndyCar race at Barber Motorsports Park, opening the door for Smith at Martinsville. It’s expected that Finch will keep rotating Allmendinger and Smith, with Dillon perhaps getting another start or two. With Allmendinger committed to Penske for the Indy 500, Smith almost certainly will drive for Finch at Charlotte in May.

Smith is among the 44 entries for Martinsville, one more than will make the grid at the flat, half-mile track. Mike Bliss is the only driver who must qualify on speed since the other 43 entrants have enough owner points to be assured of making the grid. David Stremme, Landon Cassill, Scott Speed and Mark Martin have run four of the first five races, Bliss has run three and Scott Riggs and Ken Schrader two.

Martin is in the No. 11 Toyota, subbing for the injured Denny Hamlin. It was thought that Martin would drive for Joe Gibbs Racing several more times this spring, but Michael Waltrip Racing chose to limit him to one start for JGR. Brian Vickers will drive the MWR No. 55 Toyota this weekend before moving to the No. 11 until Hamlin returns. Martin will drive the MWR Toyota for the foreseeable future (except Talladega, where Waltrip is scheduled) until he and Vickers return to sharing the car when Hamlin returns to the No. 11.

Smith has eight Cup starts at Martinsville, most of them with Furniture Row Racing. His best finish was 13th, in the fall of 2011. Overall, he has three finishes in the teens, one in the 20s, three in the 30s and one in the 40s. Despite using three different drivers in the first five races, Phoenix Racing is ninth in team points, 12 outside the top five.

The entry list for the 250-lap Camping World Truck Series race includes only one Cup star, defending race winner Kevin Harvick. And in something of a historic moment, Chase Elliott will make his first start in one of NASCAR’s three national touring events. The 17-year-old will drive a Chevrolet sponsored by Rick Hendrick and owned by his father, former Cup champion Bill Elliott.